Recent public communications fueled talk of lyme disease being a bioweapon that escaped or was placed into ticks. Ticks can indeed carry infectious agents that could be used as biological weapons but there has been no release of the Lyme disease agent or any other onto American soil, accidental or otherwise, by the military, writes Sam R. Telford III, ScD.
Source: The Conversation, July 26, 2019. Link. Population genetics research on Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterial agent of Lyme disease, suggest that the northeastern, Midwestern and Californian bacteria are separated by geographical barriers that prevent these populations from mixing. Had there been a lab strain there would be greater genetic similarity between these three geographic populations. There is no evidence for a recent single source for Lyme disease spirochetes.
The real reasons for the epidemic becoming so burdensome include reforestation, sub-urbanization and a failure to manage deer herds.” – Sam Telford III, ScD.
INSIGHTS: We’re posting this because of the discussion of the history of Borrelia burdorferi and the experiences of those who study it.